The Shooting at The Gay and Lesbian Center in Tel Aviv… much more than just bullets!

Before I begin to write the words that I really want to write, I want to take a trip down memory lane. Let me warn you though, these are not pleasant memories. I remember it as if it happened yesterday.

I was a rabbinical student at The Jewish Theological Seminary. Shabbat Nov. 4, 1995 seemed to be just like any other Shabbat; it turned out to be a day that changed the fabric and soul of the Jewish People forever. (more…)

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This evening we will begin the observance of The Holy Day of Shavuot. As we do every year, we will prepare ourselves to spiritually re-enact the moment in which God gave us The Torah.  It is ironic that  is one of the least widely observed Jewish Holy Days in our calendar because it is of tremendous importance. Of the three festivals of pilgrimage mentioned in The Torah (Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot), Shavuot is the only one that is apparently simple in observance.  There are no days of Hol Hamoed, there is no Lulav and Etrog, no Matzah! Shavuot, however, is the most spiritually and theologically charged of all the festivals. What does it really mean to receive The Torah, why do we have to consider ourselves as if every single one of us was standing at Sinai? (more…)

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Every year as we ready ourselves to begin reading Sefer B’midbar (The Book of Numbers) from The Torah, my heart rejoices! Why? Well, first of all it really signals the arrival of summer. When I first moved to Las Vegas 11 years ago, I really didn’t look forward to the summer months. Now, I love them! Our physical surroundings, the beautiful mountains that encircle our valley and the almost uninterrupted abundance of bright and powerful light remind me of what it must have been like for our ancestors in The Wilderness. (more…)

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I have always believed that The Torah is a reflection of reality.  From the beginning of our history as a People and at the time when Rabbis started trying to better understand and decipher its words, there have been two different ways of understanding its message.

Rabbi Akiva, for example, believed that every word, every letter, every space in The Torah serves a specific purpose and has a specific meaning.

Rabbi Ishmael, on the other hand, was the one who taught us that The Torah speaks the language of human beings. Truth be told, whichever our approach to understanding our sacred literature, one thing is certain — somehow we can always see our own reality reflected in its powerful words.
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I am very well aware that many people do not like sermons.  I understand that, and I believe that many times it is due to the fact that we come here to speak about difficult subjects. This afternoon, we will be speaking about something extremely difficult but hopefully we will do it in a rather beautiful way.

About six months ago, I discovered something that many of you discovered way before I did.  Even though I am known for having all the gadgets and I do mean ALL THE GADGETS (I am still in the market for one of the new iPOD NANOS), sometimes I am a late comer to social technology.  For months I kept getting messages to join Facebook.  

I ignored the messages because, after all, “Who has time to just sit in front of a computer and count how many friends you have on any given day?”

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Dear Friends,

During the Ten Days of Teshuva, the days from the beginning of Rosh Hashanna to Yom Kippur, I often find myself thinking about what has been and what I want my life to become in this brand New Year. I am sure that most of us approach these Ten Days with tremendous trepidation and that we all search within our soul to find a way to reach our full potential in life as we turn towards God.

This Yom Kippur, I would like to do something that I have never done before. (more…)

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Parashat Ki Tetze can be quite overwhelming to study! Why? Well, it contains an incredible amount of Mitzvot. A simple reading of this Sidra will leave you puzzled at first. How do you connect some of the different commandments that it contains? Is there a logic in the way in which all of these different Mitzvot are laid out through out this week’s Torah Portion? Hardly!

Instead of trying to put the puzzle of Ki Tetze together, I would much rather bring your attention to Judaism as a whole. One of the most important and absolute truths (I don’t use this term often or lightly) about Judaism is that it is not merely a religion. Judaism is a way of life, and that is what makes us so different from all other different religions in the world. (more…)

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Most of us know the story from The Tanach where Elijah strives to “understand” God’s presence and effect in the world. Elijah looks carefully at what happens around him to see where God is and what God is trying to say to him. Elijah looks at a fire consuming a bush but can’t find God in the fire. He listens to a great noise but can’t find God in the noise, and he feels a powerful wind but he can’t find God in the wind.

He finally finds God speaking to him in a “still small voice!” — just like the author of Unetaneh Tokef (one of the most powerful and beautiful prayers in our High Holy Day liturgy) wants us to visualize God’s power. Not in the midst of a great show of force, rather in the silence and the stillness of a small voice! Kol D’mama Daka! (more…)

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When we first decided to come to Costa Rica on vacation, we did so for a number of reasons. We were told that we would be able to see the most amazing wildlife and breath-taking sights. We arrived here last week and everything has been exactly like we expected it to be. The monkeys swing out in full force every morning, and we can see them from our window, then we run into them again when we go to the beach later in the day. We have seen butterflies that seem to have been colored by the hand of God, the colors are not only vibrant but they are unlike any colors we have ever seen before! We were prepared for all of these, and we haven’t been disappointed.

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As many of you know, the past two years have been a time of incredible spiritual growth for me. I had always wanted to better understand the specific area in Halacha (Jewish Law) that deals with the writing of Gittin (a Jewish writ of divorce), which is so complicated that one needs absolute expertise to be able to understand it. (more…)

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